With You
by BarbyChan4ever
Summary: Alma's life changes drastically after one of the new students catches her attention. Eventual Samuel/OC.
1. Prologue

This is a Samuel/OC story, but my OC might get romantically involved with other characters as well. The title is based on the song by Jessica Simpson.

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**Prologue**

Alma was sitting in the interrogation room, with her palms on her knees. The lady inspector was staring at her with a blank look on her face, and the girl was trying really hard to stay calm. She hadn't done anything and she didn't know anything, so this was probably going to be over quickly.

"What was your relationship with Marina?" The inspector asked Alma.

Alma sighed. "Well, we weren't friends, but I did like her very much. She was always nice to me." _Not a lie. Before everything with Samuel happened, we got along pretty well._

"Really? Because I've been told that the two of you were seen fighting on multiple occasions."

_Oh, shit._ _I bet it was Lu the one who told her about my fights with Marina. Or maybe it was Guzmán. _She resisted the urged to get defensive, to yell that she was innocent, but that would only make her look guilty. _Which I'm not._ "We argued over some silly stuff, but nothing of importance."

"You mean you argued over Samuel."

_I fucking hate this woman._ "Okay, fine, you're right." She admitted, raising her hands. "I got upset with her when she started seeing Samuel because I knew she had slept with his brother." _And because she knew I had a thing for him._ "She wanted to have both of them, and that wasn't fair. But I never would have hurt her." _I might have slapped her that one time, but I'm not a murderer._

"And Samuel?" The inspector continued. "Do you know if he might have hurt Marina?"

Alma couldn't help but snort. "No, no way. Samu is the nicest person in this entire school. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"What about his brother?"

"Nano?" _Of course she's asking me about Nano._ _He was in prison and probably fits their profile_. "I don't know him that well, but I don't think he did it."

"And why is that?"

"I don't know." She replied. "I just know he didn't do it." _Except I don't actually know shit. But I can't do this to Samu. He'd be crushed if his brother goes down for this._

"Who do you think might have done this to Marina?"

_How am I supposed to know that? I'm not a cop._ "Who knows? Maybe it was her brother. Guzmán always had anger issues. Or maybe it was Lu. She was probably jealous Marina won the scholarship instead of her." Alma didn't actually believe those two were capable of killing Marina, especially not her own brother, but she hoped this would make the inspector look for another suspect and leave Samuel and Nano alone. "Anything else?"

The inspector shook her head. "No, that's it, thank you."

"I hope you find whoever killed Marina." Alma said sincerely, standing up. "I don't know if I can come back to the school with a killer on the loose." _Damn you, Marina. Who the hell did this to you? Even in death, it's still all about you..._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**_Four months earlier..._**

All everyone could talk about was the arrival of the new scholarship students, and Alma felt like one of the few people who didn't have a problem with it.

The reason most of her classmates were against their arrival was because they were working class. Their previous school had collapsed, so in order to save face, the construction company sponsored scholarships for three of the students.

Alma didn't care. She just hoped Ander wouldn't reprimand her when he noticed the alcohol on her breath. _I forgot to get some mints. Damn it._

After hiding the vodka in her purse, she headed to class. She was running late, so she prayed no one had taken her seat.

When she opened the door, all eyes were on her, including the teacher's.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I was on the phone with my mother." She lied.

"Don't worry about it, Alma." Martín said. "Just let this be the first and last time."

She noticed Guzmán and Lucrecia were snickering, with grins on their smug faces. Alma rolled her eyes, and sat next to Ander.

"You've been drinking." He murmured, disappointed.

"Fuck. And here I thought you wouldn't notice."

"Nothing escapes me, Al."

Alma tried not to smile, but failed miserably. _He knows me so well. _"Thank you for saving me a seat." She noticed the new students sitting close by. There were two guys and one girl.

"What did I miss?" She asked him.

"The new ones are quite interesting." Ander said.

During recess, she noticed Marina going after one of the new guys. _That'll sure piss off Guzmán._

Alma didn't like Guzmán, not one bit. She couldn't understand how someone as sweet and nice as Ander could be best friends with someone so repulsive. Curious, she decided to chase after Marina, and properly introduce herself to the new kid.

When she found them, Guzmán and Polo were taunting them.

"What's going on here?" She put her hands on her hips. "Are you morons threatening him?"

"Oh, here is Almita." Guzmán chuckled. "You never struck me as the type who likes waiters."

"Fuck you, dude." Alma turned to the new guy, and offered him her hand. "I'm Alma. Don't let these fools scare you. They might have a lot of money, but zero class."

"I'm Samuel." He replied, shaking her hand, and Alma took the opportunity to look at him properly. He was very pretty, which made her understand why Marina had gone after him in the first place.

"I'll see you around." Alma nodded, ignoring whatever Guzmán and Polo were saying. She went back to the school building, and headed to the bathroom. Lucrecia and Carla were in there, staring at themselves in the mirror.

"Hi, Alma." Carla acknowledged her. Lucrecia remained silent, focusing on her reflection.

"Hi." The girl said. She and Carla were pretty close friends, which was surprising, considering that Polo was her boyfriend. But Lucrecia was definitely on her shit list.

"You missed the little show earlier." Lucrecia said.

"What show?"

"The clown, the Muslim girl, and the waiter." She replied. "It was hilarious."

"Yeah, I bet it was." Alma said sarcastically. She waited until the two girls had left to throw up in the toilet, hating herself for being so weak. _Why can't I stop? Why?_

When the time for lunch came, she considered sitting with the new students. Ander was conversing with Guzmán, while Carla, Polo, and Lucrecia were also having a private chat. Alma walked with her tray towards the new kids' table, and gained surprised looks from the three of them.

"Hi, I'm Alma." She addressed the two students she hadn't met. "Samuel and I met earlier."

"Well, hello, beautiful. I'm Christian."

"I'm Nadia."

Alma shook hands with both of them, and noticed Samuel and Nadia were writing things down. "What were you guys talking about?"

"I was just asking them who do they think runs this place." Christian said bluntly. "Is it you?"

Alma snorted. "Hell, no." She took a bite out of her sandwich, enjoying the death glares Guzmán and Lucrecia were sending her.

"Well, that's too bad." He responded, and approached the other table. _This one sure is bold._

"Does your friend have a death wish?" She asked, expecting Guzmán to punch Christian in the face.

"Probably." Samuel shrugged.

She could hear Christian asking the others about Marina's party, and Alma cringed at his desperate attempts to get an invitation.

"You chose to sit with this guy over us?" Guzmán yelled, pointing at Christian. "You disappoint me, Almita."

Alma stuck her tongue out at him, which made Christian and Ander laugh. Guzmán never missed an opportunity to bother her, which was only because he was bitter that she had rejected him last year. She wondered how he would react if he knew it was because she had been crushing on his best friend instead. _Thank God Ander can keep a secret._

Ander stopped Guzmán from hurting Christian, and in a matter of seconds, everyone in that group went their separate ways, leaving Christian standing by himself. He went back to sit next to Alma, and sighed. "This won't be easy."

"You want to be one of them so badly, uh?"

"Why didn't you sit with them?" Christian wondered. "Are they not your friends?"

"Ander and Carla are my friends." Alma clarified, finishing her sandwich. "I try to ignore Guzmán, Lucrecia, and Polo. They're annoying."

"Yeah, that blonde one is stunning." He said dreamily. "I think she likes me."

Alma avoided mentioned that she was dating Polo, not wanting to burst his bubble. _He will find out sooner rather than later._

"You really should study." Nadia said to Christian. "Or else you'll end up failing all your classes."

"Like I said earlier, I'm not here to study." Christian insisted.

While Nadia continued to advise Christian, Alma spoke to Samuel. "I'm sorry about what happened to your other school. You must miss it."

He grinned. "It was nothing like this place, I'll tell you that."

"Here's not so bad." Alma returned the smile. "Can't say this is the coolest school I've ever attended, though."

"Where did you go before?"

"This private school in the United States. I was born in Brazil, but spent most of my life there. I love Spain, but it doesn't feel like home."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be. I'm not the one whose school collapsed."

They both laughed at her joke, and eventually headed back to class with Christian and Nadia.

After school was over, Alma went home.

"How was your day, Ms. Vega?" Linda greeted her.

She sighed. "Linda, please, we've been over this. You can call me Alma."

"Very well, Ms. Alma."

The girl chortled, grateful to have her maid with her. _Without Linda, I'd be all alone in this house. _Alma locked herself in her room, and went straight to bed. The day was far from over, but school had exhausted her. _Well... at least things are interesting now._

The next day, things turned out the same. It was early in the morning, and Alma was throwing up in the bathroom when she heard somebody come in.

_Shit._ Alma stood up, and cleaned her lips with a tissue before opening the door. She let out a breath of relief when she saw it was Nadia. _Thank God it's not Lucrecia._

"Hey." She greeted the new girl. "How are you?"

Nadia looked down, frowning. "Not so good. The principal told me yesterday that if I don't take off my hijab, I'll be expelled."

"That's so unfair!" The school principal was Ander's mother, and while Alma had never had a problem with her, she could be really unfair sometimes. Ander was always receiving a lot of pressure from both of his parents to be a perfect tennis player, and that pissed her off. Ander was only playing because they were forcing him to.

"I know." Nadia agreed. "But I have no choice. Being a student at this school is a great opportunity for me, and I don't want to lose my scholarship."

Alma nodded sympathetically. She could never be able to understand Nadia's situation, since she was a spoiled rich girl, so all she could do was offer support. "I'll leave you alone, then. See you in class."

Nadia went back to stare at her reflection in the mirror. "Bye."

Alma exited the bathroom, and met Ander in the hallway. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Guzmán and Polo were laughing about something, and she didn't hesitate to insert herself in the conversation.

"What's so funny?"

"We took the new kid's clothes." Polo chuckled.

Alma's eyes widened. "Who? Samuel's?"

"No, not the waiter." Guzmán shook his head. "The other one."

"Christian? Fuck, you two are awful."

It didn't take long for Christian to make his appearance. He was stark naked, with only his hands to cover himself. Alma tried her best not to look at him, but it was a difficult task. Guzmán, Polo, and even Ander had no problem showing their amusement.

Christian seemed to be taking the prank extremely well, though. "Have you seen my uniform, beautiful?" He asked her as he walked the hallway. Alma shook her head, unable to stop the laughter.

Luckily, he found his clothes in a table nearby, and disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Looks like your plan to humiliate him didn't work out so well." She told the boys.

"Doesn't matter." Guzmán said dismissively. "His days at this school are numbered."

Alma glared at him "Dramatic much? He hasn't done anything for you to hate him so much."

"Y-you don't get it because you weren't here when Marina and Pablo..."

"Polo, shut up." Guzmán cut him off. "You don't need to be talking about my sister right now."

Alma glanced at Ander, confused. She knew something had happened in the past with Marina and another student that was kicked out of school, but hadn't been given all the details.

"Doesn't matter." Ander murmured, offering her his arm. "Let's get to class."

Alma took his arm, and they walked towards the classroom together. Alma was glad his crush on him had banished, or else the contact would be making her feel pretty flustered. She felt lucky to have him as her best friend, but she also wished she could connect with somebody else. _Perhaps it's my own fault. I should try harder._

During class, she overheard Marina invite Samuel to her party, which was the perfect opportunity to make new friends. Christian and Nadia seemed to like her well enough, but she needed to find a way to gain Samuel's friendship as well.

She wasn't surprised when she spotted Nadia without her hijab. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and Lucrecia didn't miss the opportunity to make fun of her.

"Your hair looks pretty today." She mocked.

Nadia ignored the girl's comment, focusing on what was written on the board. Alma couldn't help but admire her diplomacy. _She's definitely a better person than I am._

Alma was caught off guard when Carla approached her after school was over.

"Are you going to Marina's party tomorrow?" The blonde girl asked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it. Why?"

"You don't seem like yourself these days, that's all." Carla stated.

Alma was taken aback by her words. While it was true that she had been feeling worse than usual, she had hoped Carla wouldn't notice. _I guess nothing escapes her_. The blonde had always been a loyal friend to her, good at reading people and figuring things out.

"You're right." Alma admitted. "I've been feeling unwell lately, drinking, and throwing up a lot."

"I'm sorry, that sucks. You can talk to me if you want to, okay?"

The brunette smiled. "Thanks. That's sweet of you."

Carla smiled back. "So, did you see the new guy today? I should have known Polo was going to do something like that."

"Yeah, that was wild." Alma chuckled. "They're lucky Christian didn't say anything to the principal." _Not that she'll ever punish the school's golden boys, though._

"I heard that Marina invited him to her party."

"Yeah, she invited Samuel and Nadia too." Alma confirmed. "It's going to be a blast, I'm sure."

Their conversation ended, so the girls shared a hug and parted ways. Alma managed to make it back home without scratching her car, or falling asleep behind the wheel. She felt stupid for not being able to go a day without an entire bottle of alcohol.

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_**Author's note:**_ For those of you who read the previous version, this was the first two chapters combined, with some very minor changes. The next chapter will be completely fresh, with lots of Samu/Alma stuff.


End file.
